WEC 37: “Torres vs. Tapia” — the last event of the year for the promotion — is now just hours away. It will take place tonight from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the main card action will begin to air LIVE on the Versus at 8 p.m. ET.

The main event of the evening features WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres defending his title for the second time ever against undefeated ground specialist Manny “The Mangler” Tapia. Four other top contenders in the WEC’s 135-pound division will also be in action shortly, including Brian Bowles and Will Ribeiro, as well as Joseph Benavidez and Danny Martinez.

As always, MMAmania.com will provide detailed coverage of the main card bouts, beginning with the 8 p.m. ET telecast on Versus. In addition, we will deliver up-to-the-minute quick results of the under card action at around 6:30 p.m. ET.

Many of our readers check-in before, during and after the Versus telecast to share their thoughts on the action. Therefore, feel free to leave a comment or 10 before you leave and chat with many of our readers during the show — it always turns out to be a great discussion.

Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps and post-fight analysis after WEC 37.

Without further delay, see below for the latest WEC 37 results. (Note: This will go from the bottom up; therefore, scroll toward the bottom for the latest detailed round-by-round action!)

WEC 37 QUICK RESULTS:

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres defeats Manny Tapia via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:04 of round two to retain his belt
Brian Bowles defeats Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:11 of round three
Wagnney Fabiano defeats Akitoshi Tamura via submission (head and arm choke) at 4:48 of round three
Joseph Benavidez defeats Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Johnny Hendricks defeats Justin Haskins via technical knockout (strikes) at 4:07 of round two
Mark Munoz defeats Ricardo Barros via technical knockout (strikes) at 2:26 of round one
Diego Nunes defeats Cole Province via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Bart Palaszewski defeats Alex Karalexis via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:49 of round two
Cub Swanson defeats Hiroyuki Takaya via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Shane Roller defeats Mike Budnik via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:01 of round one

WEC 37 MAIN CARD FIGHT COVERAGE:

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (34-1) vs. Manny Tapia (10-0-1)

Fight recap: This could easily be considered the most exciting fight of the night, and rightfully so being the main event. As always, it was just a pleasure to watch Miguel Torres fight. He’s one of a handful of fighters in the world who can make something as simple as a jab exciting enough to leave you wanting more. He used that jab as well as an array of kicks and combinations to pretty much pick Tapia apart early on. His reach advantage and pinpoint accuracy eventually proved to be too much for the challenger and he was stopped in the second round from an onslaught of strikes delivered by the champion. It was the second successful title defense for Torres since winning the belt back in February. There’s a very good chance he’ll be facing Brian Bowles next, and what a fight that would be!

Final result: WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres defeats Manny Tapia via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:04 of round two to retain his belt

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Brian Bowles (6-0) vs. Will Ribeiro (10-1)

Fight recap: The leather was flying early in this one, and both guys ate some big punches and kicks. Bowles also came close to ending the fight when he locked in a deep guillotine with about a minute left in the first round, but Ribeiro somehow managed to fight his way out of it. The second round favored Brian Bowles as well. They traded some shots on their feet, but Bowles eventually took the action to the mat where he maintained the top position for most of the round. He almost certainly had the edge on the scorecards heading into the third round. He wouldn’t need the judges in the end, however, because he was able to sink in another deep guillotine off a Ribeiro takedown attempt in the third round. This time Ribeiro didn’t have enough gas left to fight his way out and he eventually was forced to submit. With this performance Bowles likely earned a shot at the winner of tonight’s main event at a future show for the WEC bantamweight title.

Final result: Brian Bowles defeats Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:11 of round three

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Akitoshi Tamura (12-6-2) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (10-1)

Fight recap: Tamura hit Fabiano with a hard knee to the body right off the bat. The next one he attempted, however, was caught by the Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt and the action went right to the mat. From there on, pretty much the rest of the fight was fought with Tamura on his back and Fabiano working from the top position on the ground. The Brazilian was constantly looking to pass to more dominate positions and he used enough ground and pound to control most of the fight and easily win over the judges en route to a unanimous decision win. It wasn’t necessarily the most exciting fight, but it was a very technical, hard fought ground war from both sides. It was Fabiano, however, who was clearly the more talented ground technician. He appeared to be on his way to a clear cut unanimous decision win, but late in the third round he slipped a deep choke on his tired opponent and he scored the late stoppage victory.

Final result: Wagnney Fabiano defeats Akitoshi Tamura via submission (head and arm choke) at 4:48 of round three

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Joseph Benavidez (9-0) vs. Danny Martinez (12-2)

Fight recap: Benavidez used his versatile striking game in this fight on his way to a somewhat lackluster unanimous decision victory. On the feet he won most of the exchanges by simply throwing more strikes than Martinez. He was sometimes throwing four or five shots to each one of Martinez’s. It was a clear case of one guy looking to land one big power shot and the other instead looking to pick his opponent apart with a more technical approach. He also looked more comfortable in the clinch and even scored a very nice takedown at the end of the first round from that position. There wasn’t really much ground fighting on display in this one. Benevidez pretty much just used a lot of kicks and strikes to win over the judges. Martinez tried to put something together near the end of the third round, but it was too little too late. Benavidez easily wins the unanimous decision.

Final result: Joseph Benavidez defeats Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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